Golders/@setoo9Former Chelsea and Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o is being threatened with jail by the mother of his child.
The retired Cameroonian footballer was recognised as the biological father of 17-year-old Annie Eto’o Barranca following a paternity case in the city of Palma, Spain, in 2004.
Annie’s mother, an Italian woman named Anna Maria Barranca, claims she met Eto’o at a petrol station before their romance started at a nightclub in Palma, where she worked.
Golders/@setoo9The pair are said to have been in a relationship for three months when Barranca saw the retired footballer with another woman and called things off.
Barranca spoke with Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia about her relationship with Eto’o, claiming that after she told him she was pregnant he offered to ‘help [her] with the abortion’. Eto’o is said not to have offered anything else.
In 2015, an Italian court ruled the former footballer had to give Barranca €10,000 (£8,417) per month in alimony payments.
Despite the court’s ruling in 2015, Eto’o has reportedly failed to make a single payment towards his child’s upbringing. Annie studies Fashion Design and wants to go to Milan University to continue her education.
Golders/@setoo9The absence of alimony payments has prompted Barranca to file a lawsuit requesting the former Real Madrid striker go to jail for his negligence.
The case comes as student Erika do Rosario, 19, also claims she is the footballer’s biological daughter, after her mother Adileusa do Rosario, 39, met him in the Spanish capital in 1997, when Eto’o was at Leganes on loan from Real Madrid.
According to reports, the former footballer has been summoned by a Spanish court several times but has yet to show up. Eto’o was set to have his paternity trial in the case of do Rosario today, February 3, but at the time of writing it is unclear if he showed up, or when the verdict will be given.
Golders/@setoo9Eto’o was ordered to pay €1,400 (£1,266) to the teen every month until his trial date today, but it is unclear if he has followed through with the payments.
The footballer retired last year after more than 20 years on the pitch. Throughout his career he played for 11 teams and won 18 club and national team trophies, as well as numerous individual awards.
Eto’o is married to Georgette Eto’o, with who he shares three daughters; Sienna, Lynn and Maelle. He is also father to footballer Etienne Eto’o.
If you have a story you want to tell, send it to UNILAD via [email protected]
Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.